Welcome to my blog! I describe my experiences with digital privacy tools as a non-technical user and parent.
Parents can start here.
If you are new to digital privacy, take a look at these articles for beginners.
Everyone else, just scroll down, or click on Blog to start reading.
Other than the parenting sections, this is not a privacy-expert advice blog. I just write about things I've tried myself, what worked well and what didn't.
Articles:
Three Tips for Parents to Help your Child with Screen Management and Online Safety
- Keeping screens out of bedrooms, talking, and learning how to manage passwords together are three ways you can help your child build healthy and safe online habits.
Digital Minimalism: Using One Device for Everything
- Using a smartphone for everything is technically a form of digital minimalism, but its constant physical proximity leads to stress and addiction.
Privacy Tools vs Online Child Exploitation and Abuse
- Internet exploitation and abuse of children is a unique category of online crime and therefore cannot be used lightly by any side in debates around regulation of online privacy tools.
How Parent Chat Groups May Help Reduce Pressure to Buy a Smartphone for Your Child
- If groups of parents can band together, they will stand a better chance to avoid making decisions based on peer pressure at school about the right age for a smartphone.
Installing Whoogle on a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W in 2025
- You can still install a Whoogle instance on a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W using docker in 2025, but you need to build the docker image yourself.
Why the Term 'Metadata' Is not Helpful in Discussions Around Privacy
- The term metadata is an inaccurate description of behavioural surplus and helps to downplay the severity of the large-scale incursion on our privacy.
- Behavioural surplus is the extra information that can be processed when we interact with an app, website or device, in order to be repackaged and sold as accurate predictions about us.
On Writing The Privacy Dad Blog
- Writing The Privacy Dad blog has been a rewarding two-and-a-half year journey, and I hope to keep writing, albeit at a slower rate.
Paying for Mullvad VPN Anonymously with Monero
- Mullvad provides a user-friendly, private VPN service, but also shows that anonymous digital transactions without logging any user data are a viable way forward.
[INTERVIEW] What's It Like Using CalyxOS Every Day?
- For my oldest child, who is now a young adult, CalyxOS feels no different to using regular Android, with a couple of exceptions (interview).
DeGoogle a Smartphone with CalyxOS in under 30 minutes
- If you own the right smartphone, you can deGoogle and have it up and running within 30 minutes with CalyxOS.
Trying out /e/OS with Easy Installer on a FairPhone
- If you have a compatible device, e Foundation's Easy Installer makes installing /e/OS a breeze.
PostmarketOS(Phosh) on the PinePhone in 2024
- The PinePhone with PostmarketOS works well as a news reader and audio consumption device.
Ubuntu on a Windows Surface Go 3
- Installing Ubuntu on a Microsoft Surface Go 3 tablet improves its speed and usability significantly.
Using Android Without a Google Account
- You can set up an Android phone without a Google account and with some independence from the Play Store.
Ten Open Source RSS News Readers for Smartphones
- Ten open source RSS news reader apps for smartphones ranked by positive user experience.
[100th!] On Giving Light Phone my Contacts List
- Digital minimalism does not necessarily overlap with privacy.
Compartmentalisation with Dedicated Devices
- You can compartmentalise your data by using dedicated devices at a reasonable cost.
- Making Linux desktop your default system is an excellent way to wean yourself off Windows and MacOS.
Taking Control with Bodhi Linux
- If you are a passive user of Linux desktop, Bodhi Linux could be the perfect distro to push you out of your comfort zone and discover customisation.
Punkt. MP02 as a Feature Phone for Kids
- A few navigational issues aside, the Punkt. MP02 is a good feature phone for kids, if you can live with the price.
Kieran Setiya on Projects and Processes
- Categorising life's activities as projects or processes can take change our perspectives on success. This is also true for privacy bloggers!
- There is no cloud. It's a bad metaphor.
Parents: Are Your Kids Backing up Their Data?
- Children need a hand creating backups of their data, and parents can help.
Why I'm Sticking with Standard Notes
- Standard Notes and Notesnook are both excellent note-taking apps with encryption, and that is a win for privacy.
- Setting up a home Nextcloud server is a great mid-level project for anyone interested in privacy.
Final Decision on Chromebook Case in Denmark
- The Danish Data Protection Authority issues an injunction in the Chromebook case.
How Can I Use Monero in Day-to-Day Situations?
- Why should I exchange fiat for Monero, in order to buy a fiat gift card to spend on a shopping platform? The current reality of not being able to spend your Monero legally as a regular consumer (not as a vendor) is not discussed enough.
Running a Whoogle Instance on the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W
- Spreading applications over different hardware devices in your home can create a more stable overall experience; running a Whoogle Search instance from a dedicated Raspberry Pi is a good example of this.
- Mining Monero can be as simple or complicated as you want it to be.
- Ownership of Monero is the most effective way to learn and get a sense of how it works.
- 'GUI' stands for Graphical User Interface.
Basic Linux Commands: ls, pwd, cd
- Managing your system and files using typed commands can be a rewarding learning experience.
Private and Secure Journaling with VeraCrypt
- VeraCrypt is a simple but powerful encryption tool with a wide range of real-world applications.
My Remaining Social Media Accounts
- Some level of compromise on social media is useful, even for privacy bloggers.
Thirteen Months of The Privacy Dad
- Writing a digital privacy diary has been a joyful and rewarding experience.
Privacy for Students on a Budget
- Successful separation of school and personal profiles can be achieved at little or no cost.
Is Human Psychology Monero's Achilles' Heel?
- Monero nodes must be maintained by people, and people are generally risk-averse.
Trying Out the PinePhone in 2023
- Linux phones may not be a working reality yet, but the PinePhone takes us in the right direction.
[INTERVIEW] Jesper Graugaard (Part 2)
- When Jesper Graugaard first discovered poor handling of his children's data through the use of Chromebooks in school, he started a case against Google that is still ongoing in Denmark today.
The Problem with Education as a Solution for Digital Privacy and Security
- Playing devil's advocate to the argument that education is the solution to today's digital privacy and security concerns.
[INTERVIEW] Jesper Graugaard (Part 1)
- Jesper Graugaard describes his battle with Google over Chromebooks in schools (part 1).
- It feels good to be consistent in decisions around deleting privacy-invasive accounts; quitting Instagram was the right choice.
Next-gen Smart Glasses Are a Test of Privacy as a Social Value
- Hopefully, Mark Zuckerberg's new, AI integrated live streaming glasses will be such a success that it will confront all of us with the limits of our tolerance for privacy invasion.
Manage your Ebook Library with Calibre
- If you are looking for an ebook management system that is privacy-preserving, free and just easy to use, I can't think of a better recommendation than Calibre.
Speaking Up at Parent Meetings
- It is important to know when and how often to raise privacy concerns with your child's school.
An Argument for Using Schools in the Fight for Digital Privacy
- While surveillance doomsday scenarios seem inevitable, we already have the potential to begin moving away from such scenarios through schools.
[INTERVIEW] Why my Friend Quit Tutanota
- The gap between those interested in technology, and those who are not, might be bigger than we think, and this will affect adoption of privacy preserving tools.
Privacy Tools Are Not Worth the Hassle
- Privacy tools are often user-unfriendly, and encouraging their adoption can backfire. (Steelman arguments 1)
Kids & Screens: Yes, No, Maybe
- Establishing screen rules is not easy, but it is better to have a plan.
So What if Google Sends me Targeted Ads?
- Users should opt in to personal data collection in exchange for services by choice, never by default.
Starting Your Own Blog, Privately
- A long search for decent, privacy-focused blogging platforms has led to these four recommendations.
From Goodreads to The StoryGraph
- The StoryGraph is the better alternative to Goodreads, for readers who want to create some distance between themselves and Big Tech.
[INTERVIEW] Conversations with an IT Security Expert
- Friends with expertise in the field can be an invaluable resource, if they are willing to spend the time and answer your questions about privacy and security.
- KeePass and Bitwarden are good password manager replacements for LastPass.
The Best Blogging Platform for Students
- A teacher's quest to find a free and open source blogging platform for high school students.
- Even a non-technical person can gain confidence in tinkering with computer hardware by practising on old devices; you might even save money in the end.
- Having conversations about digital privacy requires empathy, but sometimes, Big Tech lends a helping hand.
Buying a Set of Precision Tools
- Buying a set of precision tools is a good step towards a more technical mindset.
Using Multiple Email Accounts for Privacy
- Managing several email accounts simultaneously is both doable and advantageous for privacy.
Kids & Screens: Questions for Students, Teachers and Parents
- Moves towards a more privacy-respecting society must begin in schools.
Dual Booting on a ThinkPad T440p
- Anyone thinking of switching to Linux should take it slowly and in small steps; using a dual-boot system can help.
- A VPN provider is also a third party, one you will need to trust your data with, and this is why it is key to choose a trustworthy VPN company.
- Despite some technical difficulties, MoneroTopia 2023 was a real success.
- Cloning your drives seems daunting, but it is doable.
Onboarding II: Between Minimalism and Privacy
- Digital minimalism is a much easier concept to grasp than digital privacy, but thankfully there is some overlap between them.
On EU Approval of MiCA and Transfer of Funds Regulations
- While new EU regulations for crypto may work for finance, they are a step backwards for privacy.
- A description of two articles related to privacy.
Kids and Screens: Should I Raise Privacy Concerns with the School?
- As a parent, should you voice your opinion on your child's school's use of digitally invasive tools, or is it better to wait?
Onboarding I: Digital Privacy Tools
- Is trying to onboard others to digital privacy tools good use of our time?
Using Separate Work and Personal Devices
- It is better to have dedicated hardware devices for work and personal use.
[INTERVIEW] The Privacy Dad Special Guest on MoneroTopia Episode #109
- I was a guest on Monero Talk's MoneroTopia show this week.
- Good books shape better minds in us.
- The Light Phone 2 is a success story, and the result of a long streak of good decisions made by the development team.
- Taking small steps away from proprietary software might be a more sensible option than a dramatic leap forward.
- It's surprising and strange to experience a sense of deflation when you've completed a project.
Control Your Own Content with RSS and AntennaPod
- Curating your own podcasts and news feeds can help you avoid returning to social media and algorithms.
- Working on your computer ergonomically does not need to cost a lot of money.
Kids & Screens: Safeguarding Discussions
- When it comes to safeguarding children against online abuse and other dangers, it is better to cultivate open discussions than it is to avoid them because the topics are difficult or embarrassing.
- What to do when self-hosted systems you've invited others to join break down.
- Building a server can be slow-going, but can help teach important concepts about the Internet tools we use daily.
Kids & Screens: Can I Have a YouTube Channel?
- How to negotiate your children's requests to join platforms like YouTube.
- An explanation of IP addresses for beginners, and why they are important.
- The combination of old computers and free Linux distros enables anyone to learn how computers and operating systems work.
- Reddit is a mainstream social media platform with some redeeming qualities for the privacy-concerned individual.
- Learning how data is stored on your own computer is a good first step towards managing your data responsibly.
- Sometimes a genuine interest in digital privacy can lead you down a dark path.
Kids & Screens: An Argument for Video Games
- Video games are an important and meaningful form of entertainment for children.
[INTERVIEW] A Conversation with ChatGPT about the Future of Online Privacy
- This is a transcript of a conversation between a human and an AI about the future of online privacy.
Exploring Social Media Alternatives: Pixelfed and Odysee
- A review of Pixelfed and Odysee as alternatives to Instagram and Youtube.
- A layperson's definition of servers and administrators.
Overcoming Minor Hurdles with LibreOffice Writer
- A description of some of the easy minor adjustments someone new to LibreOffice Writer may have to make.
Kids & Screens: Parental Controls or Admin Rights?
- A case for ditching parental controls and becoming the admin on your child's devices and platforms instead.
From Evernote to Standard Notes
- A review of Standard Notes as an excellent, privacy-focused alternative to Evernote.
- A digital journal can work as a good test case to see how much we really trust our software and devices.
- Glossary post - a definition of Big Tech and why awareness is important.
A List of Apps and Software that I Use
- The list of apps on my smartphone and software on my desktop pc that remained after research and deletion.
Kids & Screens: What Is the Right Age for a Smartphone?
- The question 'What is the right age for a Smartphone?' is not an easy one to answer, and may require flexibility and compromise.
Kids & Screens: Feature Phones for Children
- Giving your child a feature phone can be a good way to postpone the smartphone discussion, while solving the problem of staying connected.
- Restricting the bulk of online tasks to desktop only can be liberating, though there are some problems.
My Experience with the Nokia 8110 Dumbphone and KaiOS
- A review of several years spent taking a dumbphone out, leaving the smartphone at home.
- Pros and cons with deleting WhatsApp and moving to Signal.
Kids & Screens: The Morning On/Morning Off Rule
- Alternating screen mornings for television, Internet and video games can limit excessive screen use during weekends and longer breaks.
[INTERVIEW] Honest Feedback from the Oldest Child
- My oldest child, now in college, reflects on our screen and device rules.
De-Googling Your Smartphone as a Beginner
- The process of removing Google from an Android device is not easy but can be worthwhile.
The Compromise of Cloud Storage
- Unless you trust your IT security skills fully, it may still be best to put your trust in a privacy-respecting cloud storage company.
More Private Browsing with Firefox and DuckDuckGo
- It is simple to stop using data gathering browsers and switch to a privacy browser and search engine instead.
- Glossary post - definition of Internet Service Provider and how important they are.
Reducing the Number of Apps on Your Smartphone
- As a step in digital minimalism, deleting all unnecessary apps on your smartphone can be a liberating experience.
Kids and Screens: (Used) Laptops, Linux, LibreOffice
- Buying refurbished laptops and installing Linux on them is a way to give your child a fast, usable computer, at a fraction of the price of a new laptop.
- Glossary post - a defintion of digital privacy and why it is important.
Moving from Gmail to Tutanota Email
- Though it may take some time and energy to find the right match, it is worth investigating privacy-preserving email alternatives.
Kids and Screens: One Simple Rule
- Keeping screens out of the bedroom at all times is a simple rule all kids can understand and follow.
Keeping Your Smartphone Out of the Bedroom
- A simple step towards freedom from smartphone addiction is to charge your devices in the living room.
Why I started Paying for Apps, Platforms and Services
- While not without problems, paying for digital tools is a good first step towards a more considered approach to using software.
- Any first step for anyone who wants digital privacy is to suspend and then delete social media accounts.
Subscribe to my blog via email or RSS feed. Find me on Mastodon and on Twitter @the_privacy_dad.